NBCSN continues its coverage of the 2013-14 campaign tonight when the Minnesota Wild host the Philadelphia Flyers at XCel Energy Center at 8:00 p.m. ET. In addition to NBCSN, you can also watch the game online.

It’s funny what a little success can do to change the outlook for a team.

The Philadelphia Flyers head into the second game of their six-game road trip on a roll. They’ve won eight of their last 11 games and have gone from one of the dregs of the Eastern Conference to being four points back of the Washington Capitals for second place in the Metropolitan Division.

All it took for the Flyers to find their stride was to see captain Claude Giroux settle down and just play hockey. While it took him quite a while to net his first goal of the season (16 games), he now leads the team in points with 18 and has four goals.

Wait, what? Yes, Steve Mason has been outstanding this year for Philly going 9-8-2 but with a .934 save percentage and a 2.02 goals-against average. Those numbers are better than what he put up in his rookie season and made him a Calder Trophy winner. Safe to say without Mason, the Flyers would’ve been in an even bigger hole to start than they were.

For the Wild, things have been rough of late. They’ve lost four in a row and their offense has vanished in those games as they’ve scored just four goals in those games. Having to deal with the Colorado Avalanche in back-to-back games as well as the Phoenix Coyotes and St. Louis Blues doesn’t help matters either.

If the Wild are going to snap their streak, they’re going to need Josh Harding or Niklas Backstrom continue to play strong in goal. Harding has been the story of the year with his play posting a .936 save percentage and a microscopic 1.56 goals-against. If he and Mason wind up squaring off, both teams could be duking it out for one goal.